Yes, there is unfairness, there is suffering, there is hunger, there is death, there is evil perpetrated by misguided and just plain cruel individuals and groups. And yes it is a wonderful flight of fancy to believe that something much better will replace what's here now. But imagining it does not make it true. No one knows what the hereafter holds for those who cross the threshold from life to death. No one has ever definitively returned to proclaim that a hereafter even exists, where the essence of a person continues on in a sentient state.

There are many individuals and groups who try to cash in on that basic ignorance and desperation that grips people who are taught from infancy to believe unquestioningly in the words of others. Most of those words are suppositions, guesses, stories told in the framework of understanding at the time to explain the why and how of how the world works. And believing the words of some 'prophet' with ulterior motives (like trying to get folks to strap on a bomb vest and blow up a building full of people in exchange for 100 virgins in heaven with Allah) may be the only way out of the dismal life many folks have right now. But of course that doesn't answer the reward quotient for the women who are forced to don said vests in hopes of protecting their families from being murdered by said 'prophets' and their lackeys. The women don't get the promises of virgins, and many may not even be tantalized with a life in heaven with Allah. So there are some illogical inequities built in to a lot of these fantasies perpetrated against people who fear to examine - yes, even doubt - the long-held traditional beliefs that seem to have no relevance today. Take for instance the Jonestown massacre in Guyana. What was the point of that? http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/mass/jonestown/index_1.html
It's just crazy people killing other people. Belief doesn't matter. Motive doesn't matter. Reason doesn't matter. End result tells the moral. These murderers are just effing crazy.

Ignorance and fear and superstition will always trump reason and fact. Why? Because it's easier to believe in something that illogically promises the impossible - especially if that impossibility can never be substantiated by any known means. That's why fairy tales and comic book superheroes are so popular and remain so even today. It's easy to glorify the impossible, but much more difficult to find real heroes who try to do the right thing, here and now, in the world of today as we know it. Let's try focusing on making things better for everyone, and stop giving credence to the nutcases and butchers and mass-murderers who steal all the glory. Let's stop predicting the end of the world and start trying to take care of it and make it a better home. Right now, and for the foreseeable future, it's the only one we've got...

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

It's great to get ebooks to read for the holidays, even better when they're FREE FREE FREE.

See how it all started in the galaxy far, far away, when America's Galactic Foreign Legion pushed forward to protect planet New Colorado from encroaching alien spider invaders. AMERICA'S GALACTIC FOREIGN LEGION BOOK 1 FEELING LUCKY is FREE on Amazon Kindle for the next five days, beginning Thursday, Dec. 20, through Christmas Eve, Dec. 24!

On Christmas day, treat yourself to more absurdity and get a FREE FREE FREE Amazon Kindle download of book 15 in the series, LIEUTENANT COLUMBUS - Tuesday, Dec. 25 through Saturday, Dec. 29.

Don't have a Kindle? Download the FREE reading app to your electronic device - go to Amazon to get it!

A compulsive gambler, desperate to
escape the clutches of a loan shark, borrows money from a shady ATM and
finds himself enlisted in America's Galactic Foreign Legion, amid a war
with a spider-like alien species threatening humanity. With a little
luck, maybe he'll live through it all to roll the dice another day.

Things just keep getting loonier on
planet New Colorado, where a new officer, Lieutenant Chris Columbus,
claims he's the original Christopher Columbus credited with discovering
America back on Old Earth in 1492. He also claims Major Lopez went back
in time as General Lopez and recruited him to the Legion. Czerinski's
not buying the whole time-travel thing, but that doesn't stop the
Arthropodan spider commander from suspecting there's something to it.
And if that isn't weird enough, another lieutenant from the past makes
an appearance, as well as the Legion's most hated traitor, claiming he's
being chased by vampire commandos. Welcome back to Camp Crazy with this
next installment of the whacky military space opera.

Expatriate and former Marine Corps sniper Mike Towery made millions as a
hired assassin. Retired from the business, he is wanted in several
countries and ends up in Bangkok, Thailand, the ‘sin city’ of Asia. He
now regrets killing people for profit. Some deserved to die, but others
did not. To ease his guilt, he uses his considerable funds and personal
skills to fight for the undisputed underdogs of Bangkok – the ‘working
girls.’ He sets himself up as their self-appointed guardian angel and
earns the reputation on the streets as Jai Dee – Good Heart. But deep
down he knows he is really Jai Rai – Dark Heart. Still, he does what he
can to reclaim his soul. When he accepts Lek, a close friend and former
working girl as his soul mate, he sees a glimmer of hope for redemption.

Mike
meets Eric, a fellow expatriate new to Thailand. Eric’s skills can help
with Mike’s plan to get many working girls out of the ‘business’ with
real jobs. When a close friend of Mike and Lek is mutilated and left to
die, Mike knows a sick bastard is out there who needs to be stopped.
Mike searches for fellow expatriates with skills like his to help him
bring down this animal before he hurts more people. His quest leads him
to ex-Navy SEAL sniper Robert O’Leary and his ex-CIA friend Bruce
Broderic, but convincing them to join him is much harder than he
expects. Robert knows this ‘Dark Angel’ killer and seems reluctant to
tangle with him again. Robert and Bruce don’t want to spoil their
tranquility by hunting for this reputed demon on a killing spree. Then
the unthinkable happens, and everyone’s lives change...

Available now in ebook at Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes & Noble, coming very soon in print to Amazon!

At the height of the Cold War and the Second Red Scare, when McCarthyism
and fear of nuclear holocaust is at its worst, murder draws a small
Midwestern Iowa town into the craze of Soviet spy rings on US soil and
government-sponsored communist witch-hunts.

In one of the coldest
winters on record, Jimmy Novotny is trying to deal with his own
personal demons after returning home from the Korean War to Belle
Plaine, Iowa, and finds himself embroiled in the investigation of
several puzzling deaths. He works to solve the mystery, not just to get
at the truth, but to prove himself worthy of the task – worthy of
anything after the horrors he left behind in the war.

Working
with him – or perhaps against him – is the beautiful redheaded reporter
from Cedar Rapids, Cecilia Brom. She carries secrets of her own. And
then there are others following their own agendas, each making the
investigation for the truth increasingly difficult and dangerous. The
question remains, is Jimmy Novotny up to the challenge, or will the Cold
War freeze him out, leaving a murderer to escape unpunished? Is there
anyone he can really trust to help him get to the bottom of it before
more people die?

Available in ebook now at Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes & Noble; coming in print very soon to Amazon

Monday, November 19, 2012

Fans of humorous military scifi give thanks and rejoice - author Walter Knight is giving away the Kindle ebook version of AMERICA'S GALACTIC FOREIGN LEGION BOOK 8 - ALLIES. If you haven't been reading this series, start with Book 1 and work up from there so you get the whole effect. We're set to publish Book 17 soon and have Book 18 in production!

A treaty makes the humans and spiders allies, but before
anyone can enjoy peace, the scorpions reappear with a vengeance. Col.
Czerinski and his miscreant band of legionnaires help the spiders battle
the scorpions. The Legion’s serendipitous screw-up convinces the
scorpions to surrender. A new alien species makes an appearance, and a
feared nemesis returns, putting everyone on alert as the laughs
continue.

Available on Amazon in print and ebook in Kindle format. Get the Kindle version free for the next five days, starting Wednesday, November 21.

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Joseph O'Reily secretly wants to be a superhero - especially when a beautiful redhead at a local pub makes him feel like one. Then strange things start happening, and he realizes Cassandra Snow has done something to change him. Forever. Now, instead of worrying about keeping to his vegetarian diet, he's craving blood and running from a 200-year-old vamp trying to kill him. Some fantasies should never come true, but what's a new vampire supposed to do? Trust his maker and fight by her side - or go it alone and hope for the best?~~~~~~~~~~~Coming up on select days, have yourself a little vampire feast and get THE NEWFOUNDLAND VAMPIRE free on Kindle:Wednesday, November 21Thursday, November 22Tuesday December 25Wednesday, December 26ANDTuesday, January 1, 2013If you haven't read this unique and entertaining vampire tale, here's your chance to get a free Kindle copy!

Kirsten Tyler's father and brother were brutally murdered – drained of blood – when she was just a little girl. The angels came to comfort her and watch over her, but then suddenly left. She's spent the last ten years trying to find them. Answers she sought about the past threaten to wreck her future when people close to her start turning up murdered – again...

~~~~~~~~~

For the next three Fridays, BLOOD AND SUNLIGHT BOOK2 ANGEL MOON will be free on Amazon Kindle...

The Disney Corporation bought George Lucas's film company for $4 billion, and plans to make a seventh Star Wars film for 2015. Does it get better than that? This guarantees Star Wars will be passed on to the next generation of young movie goers. Truly, in a galaxy far far away ... it's a small world after all.

Disney's recent interest in science fiction (John Carter) and now this Star Wars announcement bodes well for the science fiction genre.

I am particularly interested in the Disney announcement because of the October release of my latest book, America's Galactic Foreign Legion - Book 16: Galactic Disney about building a Disney amusement park on a distant planet colony. I have fun with humanity using drones disguised as Tinkerbell pixies, Mickey Mouse carrying an assault rifle, and anti-aircraft sites hidden atop the 'Escape From Spider Mountain' rollercoaster ride. The evil aliens attempt to stop the Merry Rodent and his Mickey Mouse Club, but resistance is futile.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

See how it started and where it's headed - Jamie Wasserman's vampire series BLOOD AND SUNLIGHT is FREE on Amazon Kindle. If you haven't read this series get the first book Saturday and the second one Sunday. Kindle Prime users can borrow free anytime for the next 90 days!

Melanie would love to believe in fairytales. She’d love, in fact, to believe in anything. The twenty-three-year-old college dropout is stuck — stuck in a dead-end waitress job, stuck in her hometown of Ellicott City, Maryland, and stuck with a boyfriend who likes to play dress-up as a vampire.

Vampires. Her world and her reality are turned upside down when she encounters the real thing. Along the way, she meets Lucas, the would-be vampire slayer, his father the sheriff, and ultimately the vampire himself. Melanie learns that fairytales can come true, and evil isn’t always where you expect to find it.

Kirsten Tyler has been obsessed with angels since she was a child. When she was just a baby, her mother died. When she was five years old, her father and older brother were violently murdered while she was hiding in the house. Although she hadn’t been harmed, she’d been treated in the hospital for severe and unexplained blood loss, and the details of what happened that horrible night always remained fuzzy in her mind.

Soon after she went to live with her aunt and uncle in a neighboring town, the angels came to visit her. Every night they would tuck her in and read her bedtime stories. She lived a quiet, protected life with her loving aunt and uncle, but she couldn’t wait for the secret of the nighttime – when her mysterious angels would come through the open window to see her. They promised they would always be there for her. But then, suddenly, they were gone, and she was alone.

For the next ten years, Kirsten studied everything she could about angels, in hopes of finding her guardians again. During that time, she always had the feeling someone was watching over her ... or maybe just watching her.

In college now, she continues her search for the truth about angels, but every obscure text, every clue, leads to a dead end. She’s ready to give up until the people closest to her start turning up dead. Again. These bloodless unexplained murders will force Kirsten to deal with the terrible truth about her past – and who the angels really are.

Friday, August 17, 2012

Who likes free stuff? YOU DO! Looking for a fun pick-me-up full of outlandish out-of-this-world humor? If you haven't read the AMERICA'S GALACTIC FOREIGN LEGION yet, here's your chance to pick up the first book absolutely free from Amazon's Kindle ebook store.

But it's only free for the next five days, Saturday through Wednesday! So don't miss your chance to check out the first book in this hilarious military sci-fi series...

One more roll – that’s all habitual gambler Joey Czerinski needs to get himself off Old Earth and away from the bad-ass loan shark hunting him down like a mongrel to be euthanized. But a sneaky ATM looking to fill its Foreign Legion new recruits quota has something else in mind for Mr. ‘Big Spender’ Czerinski. When he agrees out of desperation to take a loan from the crazy ATM, all bets are off.

War is hell, and hell comes knocking when it’s time for Czerinski to pay up. Forced into the Legion by the tricky ATM and an unscrupulous lawyer, Czerinski finds himself deeper in trouble than he’d ever imagined. But what’s one more roll for a perennial rule-bender? If Czerinski can survive what’s thrown at him amid galactic war against a spider-like enemy that could spell doom for the human race, maybe ... just maybe ... he’ll manage to come out alive in this grisly game of shoot-’em-up – if his luck holds out.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Here's another ebook giveaway for the vampire novel THE NEWFOUNDLAND VAMPIRE. Click HERE for details (opens in new window).

THE NEWFOUNDLAND VAMPIRECharles O'KeefeParanormal/Horror/Vampire

Joseph O'Reily secretly wants to be a superhero - especially when a beautiful redhead at a local pub makes him feel like one. Then strange things start happening, and he realizes Cassandra Snow has done something to change him. Forever. Now, instead of worrying about a vegetarian diet, he's craving blood and running from a 200-year-old vamp trying to kill him. Some fantasies should never come true.

PROMOTIONAL GIVEAWAY - novellette VAMPIRE IN THE OUTFIELD ebook will be free on Amazon for the next five days (Monday, August 6, through Friday, August 10). If you haven't read this humorous paranormal tie-in to Walter Knight's scifi military spoof series AMERICA'S GALACTIC FOREIGN LEGION, now's the time to download it for free!

VAMPIRE IN THE OUTFIELDWalter Knight
Scifi/Paranormal/Futuristic/Vampire

A young man who just wants to play baseball in the major leagues ends up going to some questionable extremes to get his wish. A humorous look at baseball, vampires, and the Evil Empire (the New York Yankees) in a future where scouts will sign just about anybody – human or otherwise – if they can hit and play ball. (Complete novella. Last half contains promo bonus material for other books.)